Can a pregnant woman from an ethnic minority community in arid northern Kenya, or a disabled woman in a remote mountain village in Nepal, access the healthcare she needs? If not, why not? If we cannot answer such questions, the much-lauded commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals will not be realised.

Reaching the most vulnerable and marginalised people relies on a plethora of conditions to be in place. Does this woman, her pregnancy, her ethnicity and her disability even ‘exist’ according to the government’s official records? Is there a progressive public health policy, informed by data, that makes provision for vulnerable groups? Are sufficient financial resources being allocated to the right people and places? Finally, do local political conditions allow for the delivery of quality health services on the ground?

ODI’s new research which will be discussed at the event integrates all these different elements – data systems, policies, financing, service delivery and broader political economy issues – in a ‘stock take’ of the health sectors in Kenya and Nepal. It identifies those groups currently being excluded from access to healthcare, and traces in detail the obstacles and drivers of progress for leaving no one behind, offering a useful blueprint for future research in other countries and other sectors.